Jeff Sessions argues it’s legal to fire someone for being gay; courts overrule
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Another big loss for the Trump and friends.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit just overruled the Trump administration’s claims that it’s totally 100% legal to fire somebody for being gay, ruling that civil rights laws protect gay people from workplace discrimination.
The case involves former skydiving instructor Donald Zarda claimed his former employer, Altitude Express Inc., fired him for being gay.
According to court documents, Zarda was terminated from his job as a skydiving instructor in 2010 after being subjected to homophobic jokes from his coworkers and complaints from a female client.
Racist homophobe Attorney General Jeff Sessions tried arguing that the civil rights provision, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, doesn’t protect gay people.
Well, the court just rebuked those claims, making for a historic moment in the LGBTQ community.
The judges said, “We now hold that sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination ‘because of sex’, in violation of Title VII.”
“We therefore vacate the district court’s judgment on the Title VII claim and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
They continued: “The Supreme Court has held that Title VII prohibits not just discrimination based on sex itself, but also discrimination based on traits that are a function of sex, such as life expectancy, and non?conformity with gender norms.”
Sadly, Zarda was not able to see the victory. He passed away in a skydiving accident shortly after the litigation against his former employer began.
Bill Moore, a co-executor of Mr. Zarda’s estate, called the ruling “a wonderful step forward” for LGBTQ rights.
“Today’s victory is a wonderful step forward for the country as a growing number of Americans take a stand against anti-L.G.B.T.Q. employment discrimination,” he said in a statement. “I wish Don were here to see how he and his case have advanced the movement for LGBTQ equality.”
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Brilliant news! :cheers:
A stunning victory and much needed push back against an administration that CLAIMED to be pro-gay but is the exact opposite!
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I agree with AG Sessions on this one. The 1964 Civil Rights Act never provided protection for us. It was written years before Stonewall. While what happened is cruel, we don't get the right to enforce imaginery laws. We should be pushing hard to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to cover us. That's the way the process is suppose to work, and in a democracy, the process is more important than the result if we want democracy to continue to work.